How to be Human
by heartsayshello95
Summary: Takes place after 3B before 4. The pack is still reeling from the death and tragedy that has surrounded them. Stiles is still dealing with the residual effects of being possessed while Malia learns how to be a human again. They both struggle and find what they need in each other: hope.
1. Chapter 1

Ever since Eichen house, Malia had felt _some way _about Stiles. She couldn't figure it out. She wasn't used to all these human feelings. She had to remind herself who she was. Secretly she was afraid of losing her human side again.

_ I am Malia and Stiles is my friend._

At first, she was angry. She was so angry at Scott and Stiles for changing her back. Now she had to deal with life as a human again, and she wasn't sure she could do it. She seemed to mess up at every turn, but Stiles never judged her. Scott helped with learning how to control her coyote side. After all, he was the alpha. He was her alpha now. But Stiles never left her during the lessons.

Malia had a habit of sneaking around. She didn't know how not to. As a coyote she was always quiet, prepared to run off if things got bad. This sneaking led her to Stiles' room almost every night. She waited till her dad fell asleep, and then she would leave.

It was hard for her dad, she understood that. He thought she was dead for years and now here she was, just dropped back into her life with a shaky excuse for what actually happened. Sheriff Stilinski had helped with all the police reports and social workers and for that, she didn't know how to thank him. But her dad continued to remained stoic and detached.

As she slipped through Stiles window, she thought about this and furrowed her brow. She slipped under the sheets next to him, lightly placing her hand on his shoulder. "You are not asleep," she said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah," he answered, "Well, you try sleeping after being possessed by a demonic nogitsune."

She tried to smile. It felt fake, but Stiles said practice made perfect. "You try sleeping after killing your mother and sister as a were-coyote and being turned human."

"Ah, touche." Stiles turned to face her. His hair was sticking up on one side. This made Malia smile. It felt slightly more real, she decided.

He pushed the hair out of her face and rested his hand on her cheek. They fell asleep that way, their legs tangled together. Malia was resting with her head against his chest. Stiles had his arms around her.

Usually, Malia woke up early enough to climb back out the window and return to her house before Stiles woke up. But today, she didn't. This was the only place she felt safe. What was the word?

_I am Malia and Stiles feels like home._

She awoke the next morning to Stiles' alarm clock. She jolted awake from the abrupt beeping and scurried over Stiles and onto his floor. Her claws were out and her heart was pounding. The beeping hurt her head.

Stiles roused from sleep slowly, but when he saw Malia with her teeth bared he quickly pounded the button to make it stop. It continued to beep so he ripped the clock out of the electrical socket. "I'm sorry- I'm- Are you okay?" he asked, almost out of breath. Malia shook her hands, hoping the claws would retract. They didn't. He reached out to try to calm her, but she flinched away.

"That scared me. I didn't like that."

"Right, no. That's fine. Alarm clock gone." He picked it up off the ground and threw it out the window. "Don't worry about it."

"I am worried about it. I was scared by a beeping clock." She crossed her arms and hid her claws.

"It takes time," he said simply.

Stiles drove to school in silence. Well, technically it wasn't silence. There was country music playing quietly. Malia was sitting in the passenger seat with a jacket on, despite the 80 degree weather. She said she liked country music; it made her feel good, she told him.

School was overwhelming to Malia. It was the place she felt most inadequate. Stiles and Scott let her cheat off them while Lydia offered her help during tutor sessions. But she didn't know if she would be able to pass 11th grade even with their help. Her brain was still wired to finding her next meal, not knowing algebra equations.

"Do you use these equations often outside of school?" she once asked Lydia.

Lydia just smirked. "Definitely not."

Malia found it difficult to sit in class all day. The last time she'd been in school they had recess. Why did they not have that anymore? She wondered. At least then she could run a mile or two. She was constantly jiggling her leg or tapping her pencil. She couldn't keep still.

Malia decided to make a list during one of Mr. Yukimura's history lectures.

She split the paper into two sides and labeled either side. One read: things Malia Tate likes and the other: things Malia Tate does not like.

On the 'like' side she put country music, running, macaroni and cheese, and Stiles. She underline Stiles' name. She didn't know why though. On the doesn't like side she put: Eichen house, alarm clocks, school, and her dad's house.

It was a pathetic list, but those were the only things that she felt strongly about. She would add to it as Stiles and his friends taught her things, she decided. She pursed her lips and then added one more thing to the 'like' side:

sleeping in Stiles' bed


	2. Chapter 2

She went home with Lydia that day. Stiles said there were some things he couldn't teach her. Lydia happily volunteered to help her out with what she called 'girl things'. Stiles kissed her on the forehead and said he would pick her up in an hour.

They drove in silence until Lydia asked, "So, what's the deal with you and Stiles?"  
"What deal?" she asked.

"Like are you dating? Just friends? Physical friends?" Lydia raised her eyebrows, hoping for a juicy answer.

"I don't know what the last one means."

"It means friends that hook up," she said plainly.

"Hook up?" Malia felt stupid for not understanding.

"Have sex. Are you and Stiles...?" She trailed off, flicking her eyes between the road and Malia.

"We aren't having sex, no. Wait, should we be?" Now she was more confused. Stiles was her friend. Wasn't he? Mates have sex. Was he her mate?

"Not if you don't want to. Sex is complicated sometimes. Take Jackson and I for example. He was my boyfriend a long time ago before he went all pyscho kanima on me and then moved to another country. Anyway, the sex was great. But as far as anything emotional- that, my friend, was hard to get out of him. Sometimes it's better not to rush into bed."

"We sleep in the same bed," Malia said. Lydia nearly slammed on the brakes as they came to a red light. Malia braced for a crash. Her muscles became tense.

"What do you mean?"

"I sometimes go to his house to sleep."

"Oh," Lydia said. She pulled into her driveway and parked the car. She got out, and Malia followed her into the house.

"Is that weird?" Malia asked, trying to catch up to Lydia.

"Not weird, but," she paused. "Friends don't just sleep together, especially when they're the opposite sex." She shrugged. "Can't go back now."

They went up to Lydia's room. "So what exactly are you supposed to be teaching me?" Malia asked.

"Stiles can teach you about how to be a human all he wants, but he can't teach you how to be a teenage girl." She smiled. "That's what I'm here for." Malia tried to match her smile. Lydia picked up a makeup brush and told Malia to sit in her vanity chair. She was very happy that Lydia was willing to teach her how to be a girl. Maybe Stiles would be impress with what she learned. The next 30 minutes was spent with Lydia trying to keep Malia focused on learning how to put makeup on and dress properly. But Malia didn't have very many clothes. All the ones she had were hastily bought at Target by a social worker and didn't fit correctly.

Lydia offered her a couple of outfits to borrow. To get her started, she said. Malia just said, "Thank you." because she didn't know how to politely decline Lydia. While Malia was sitting in the vanity and Lydia was putting finishing touches, she grabbed a photograph and looked intently at it. Lydia had her arm slung around a beautiful brunette girl with large dimples.

"Who is this?" Malia asked. Lydia tensed when she saw what Malia was looking at. Lydia grabbed the picture out of her hands and held it to her chest for a moment.

"Don't touch it." After Lydia realized how rude she sounded, she softened. She gently sat down on her bed.

"I'm sorry. Have I done something wrong?" Malia sat next to Lydia, frowning and looking down at her jeans.

"No, it's fine," Lydia whispered. "This is Allison in the picture with me. She's my best friend. She used to be Scott's girlfriend."

"Oh, does she go to school with us?" Malia asked.

Lydia looked up slowly. "No." She shook her head, as if she was trying to shake the memories out. "She was killed by the Oni."

Now it was Malia's turn to say "Oh." "I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. Gotta get over it some time, right?" Malia saw the glint of a tear in Lydia's eye.

"Please don't cry."

"I'm not crying." Lydia wiped her eye. "I'm just sad." She placed her hand on Malia's shoulder in a friendly way. "It's okay to feel sad sometimes."

"You can feel sad right now. I don't mind." Malia smiled softly. She cupped Lydia's hand. "We are friends. You don't have to pretend to feel happy around me when you aren't." This, Malia decided, was something a good friend would say. Even though Lydia's sniffling kind of made her feel uncomfortable, Malia thought Lydia needed a girl friend to talk with and that was more important.

Stiles drove her to her dad's house after picking her up from Lydia's. "You look tired," Malia observed.

"Well yeah. Thanks for pointing that out," he said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry." He looked at her.

"It was just a joke. I'm kidding," he said lightly.

"Oh sorry. I didn't understand." She looked at her nails in embarrassment.

"You look really pretty," Stiles said, changing the subject.

_I am Malia and Stiles thinks I look pretty._

"Thanks. Lydia taught me about makeup," she responded, tucking a piece of brown hair behind her ear. "You look pretty, too." She paused for a moment. "Err, handsome. I meant handsome." She sighed at herself. "There's too many words in my head." She paused. Stiles waited patiently for her to finish her thought. "As a coyote there weren't words. Coyotes don't travel in packs. They- they don't trust others."

"You can trust me," he said as he parked the jeep and walked Malia to her door.

"I know I can; I just don't know how." She stopped at the closed door and sighed. "Lydia told me friends don't normally sleep together."

"What?" Stiles asked, taken aback by her statement.

"She asked me if we had sex and I told her no, but we sleep in the same bed." Malia moved her hands trying to get her point across, something she had seen Stiles do many times.

"Wha- sex? Wha-?" He cleared his throat. "No, of course we're not-. Okay, see nothing is normal about Beacon Hills, I promise. This-" he gestured between Malia and him, "might be the most normal thing I have right now."

"So it's okay?"

"It's definitely okay."

_It's definitely okay._


	3. Chapter 3

Stiles had left three hours ago, and Malia was feeling panicked. Her dad had gone out with friends. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. She was all alone.

I_ am Malia._

_ I am Malia._

_ Malia._

_ M._

She felt herself losing grip with humanity. She stumbled down the stairs and threw herself to the phone. Her shaking fingers tried to dial Stiles' number but she couldn't remember it. The numbers were jostled in her head, not forming a complete phone number. She howled in anger. This was not right. Why couldn't she hold on to her humanity?

She groped for the list she had made earlier and read it over and over.

Malia likes country music, running, macaroni and cheese, Stiles, and sleeping in Stiles' bed. She doesn't like Eichen house, alarm clocks, school, or her dad's house.

She ran out of the door leaving her list behind. She didn't make it far before running into Scott. Like, literally running into him. They both fell onto the ground and popped back up.

Out of breath, Scott asked, "I heard you howling. Are you okay?"

"No, I am definitely not okay. Can you call Stiles?" She added "Please," when she remembered that was the polite thing to do.

"Yeah, sure," Scott assured, reaching for his phone and leading her back inside. "Stiles. You need to get over here. Something's wrong with Malia." Malia stumbled onto the couch. "I don't know. I could hear her from miles away."

"Scott," she inhaled. "You have to teach me. You have to teach me how to control it." Her claws accidentally ripped the couch open and white fluff poked out. Malia started to hyperventilate. "Malia, I can't help you until you calm down." He grabbed her hands to stop them from shaking. "Anchor yourself. Anchor yourself to humanity. Find what makes you want to be human."

_Stiles. Stiles makes me want to be human._

"I don't know how!" she cried.

"Focus," he growled. Malia's eyes went wide at her alpha's command. She focused on the door. She focused on the door until Stiles burst through it like a madman.

"Malia! Malia, what's wrong?" He sounded frightened.

"I am not human," she whispered with tears in her eyes.

"What are you talking about? Of course. Of course, you're human." He knelt down to me her brown eyes. Malia threw herself into Stiles' chest, and Stiles wrapped his arms around her. Malia squeezed his chest, perhaps harder than she should've. He traced fingers up and down her back softly, until her breathing slowed.

Stiles nodded at Scott and mouthed 'thanks you' before Scott slipped out the door.

When Malia calmed down enough, Stiles drove her to his house. His father was in the kitchen preparing dinner. "Dad?" he called. Malia was holding his hand. Stiles was self conscious that his hand was unusually sweaty but Malia didn't seem to care, if she even noticed at all. "Hey, Stiles. Tonight is taco night! They're pretty good if I do say so myself." He turned around with a spatula in his hand. "Oh hey, Malia."

"Dad, is it okay if she stays over?" Stiles asked.

Sheriff Stilinski was a very reasonable parent, and he had a soft spot for Malia after all the time he spent with her at the police station. She reminded him of the daughter that he never got to have. "Sure, she can stay in the guest room. Do you want some tacos?" he said, pointing to the meat on the stove.

"No, thanks. I don't like to eat meat." In the woods, she ate rabbits raw. Meat didn't quite taste the same after she had experienced that.

"Oh, well can I make you something else then?"

"Macaroni and cheese," she stated proudly.

"This girl knows what she wants in life," Sheriff Stilinski joked. "I like it. Mac and cheese coming right up."

She waited til two a.m. to sneak up to Stiles' room. That was when she could hear his dad's steady breathing from down the hall that let her know he was asleep. Stiles' door creaked slightly as she opened it. She wondered it she should've just gone through the window again.

He wasn't asleep. His eyes were wide open, staring at the ceiling. "I almost thought you weren't coming."

"I'll be here as long as you want me." She started to climb over Stiles to her side of the bed. But she stopped as she was straddled over him. She just hovered there, staring at him.

He stared back. "Whatcha doing?" he asked tentatively, half smiling.

"I don't know." She sat down on his abdomen with her legs on either side of his body. She placed her hands on his chest. Stiles held his breath. She looked unreasonably sexy on top of him with her hair in a knot on top of her head and no bra on under her shirt. "I really like you," she said. She felt a knot in her stomach.

Stiles opened his mouth to answer her, but before he could say anything, Malia kissed him. Her hands found their way into his tangled hair. Stiles' hands snaked up her back and under her shirt. He sat up, still holding her. Malia fumbled with his shirt, pulling it off with force. She threw the shirt to the ground.

While kissing him, she clumsily groped to open his dresser drawer and feel around for a condom. Once she had one, she pulled away from Stiles and ripped the wrapper open with her teeth.

"Whoa there, tiger," he said, taking it out of her hand. "You can't open it like that. You'll tear it."

"I saw them open it like this on TV," she said. She had only been watching Stiles-approved shows that were supposed to help her integrate back into humanity. Maybe a few sex scenes slipped through the cracks. Malia's instincts were to be curious.

He laid back, adjusting his head on the pillow. "Malia, I can't do this."

"What? Have I done something wrong?" Malia asked, suddenly very self conscious. She climbed off of him and sat cross legged at the end of the bed.

"No, trust me you- you did everything right. Perfectly, one might say. But- ahh, I can't do this."

"Do you not like me?"

"I don't want to take advantage of you," he admitted. "I don't want to rush into anything."

"You had sex with me at Eichen House."

"And I shouldn't have. We shouldn't have. Neither of us were in our right mind." He sighed. "You have no idea how badly I want to do this with you, but it can't happen right now."

"Oh." She still didn't fully understand but she felt stupid asking more questions. "I'll leave then." She didn't like this feeling. There wasn't rejection in the animal world.

"You don't have to leave."

"I really think I do."

Stiles watched her go, all the while thinking how to make it right. He could've gone through with it. But that would make him a bad person. But she wouldn't know because she doesn't understand normal relationships. _God damn it._ But if he did go through with it, she would eventually realize how wrong it was and then he would lose her. It's better for her to be a little upset now than to hate him later.

He had to believe that was true. He had to.


	4. Chapter 4

Stiles almost expected her to be gone. He debated all night whether to go downstairs and fix things. Anxiety filled him as he went downstairs in the morning. He forgot that he threw out his alarm clock for Malia's benefit so he accidentally overslept.

But there she was. Sitting on a stool, reading what looked like a magazine. She appeared to be eating some Fruit Loops as she read. "Good morning," she said, not turning around.

"Uh, good morning."

"I could hear your heartbeat from all the way down here. Amazing, huh?" She swiveled around to face Stiles. "I'm reading a magazine called _Seventeen_. I'm almost seventeen. Wait." She placed her magazine on the counter. "Am I seventeen yet?" Stiles didn't know if she was asking him or herself, but he answered anyway.

"You're seventeen, yes."

"Are you?" she asked curiously.

"Yes."

"Oh, you should read this too then. But I'm not finished with it yet."

"Take your time," he chuckled. He made his way over to the pantry to make himself a bowl of cereal. He started to pour fruit loops for himself, only to find dusty sugar left. Maybe he'd go to the grocery store later. It'd be a good teaching opportunity sometime. "Malia, how many bowls have you had?"

"Probably four or five. My stomach kinda hurts, but it's SO good. Anyway, this magazine is like really interesting. It has all these quizzes to tell me what kind of person I am. Apparently I'm a nurturing romantic who is not willing to change for a guy. And I need to have more girl friends."

"Those kind of magazines are really just for fun. They don't really tell you a lot about yourself." Malia's mouth twisted in disappointment. She thought she'd found an easy solution to her problem. Seeing her hurt look, Stiles added, "They're still fun."

"Do you want to take one?" Stiles nodded. "This one's called 'Are you attracted to bad boys?' she said excitedly. Stiles smirked but decided to play along. "Question one..."

Malia vaguely remembered going to the grocery store with her mother when she was younger. It was difficult to remember anything from those days. She could barely recall what her mother and sister looked like, much less the things they used to do as a family.

Regardless she was amazed when she walked in. Malia and Stiles pushed the cart down the aisles together, picking up everything their hearts -and stomachs- desired. First on the list was Fruit Loops, of course. They ended up putting two in the cart – one box for Malia and one for Stiles.

At first Malia was overzealous and tried to throw everything she could into the cart. In the wild, she lived from meal to meal; here she could buy as much as she wanted and eat as much as she wanted.

Stiles explained to her that she couldn't just buy had to plan what you were going to eat so the food wouldn't be spoiled or stale by the time you wanted to eat it. Malia still convinced him to buy five boxes of macaroni and cheese. He had a hard time saying no to the girl.

That's what he liked about Malia. Something as mundane as going to the store was an adventure to her. She wanted to go up and down every aisle to see what was what. She ran with the cart when she saw something she wanted. They even took turns pushing each other in the cart.

"I will never get tired of coming here." She beamed at him. He smiled. _This girl. This girl is amazing,_ he thought. "I think I'm going to add it to the list I'm making."

"The list?" he prompted. She nodded excitedly, pulling the list from her sweatpants' pocket and handing it to him. He read over it quickly, holding his smile when he saw his name on the 'like' side. "My name's actually only spelled with one 'L'."

"Oh." She paused, squinting at the paper. "I think I like it better with two 'L's'."

Malia was laying in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She was listening to Stiles' heartbeat from upstairs, trying to find sleep. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there. _Too long_, she thought.

Stiles' heartbeat started to thump louder, harder. Malia got up and decided to walk upstairs, against her instinct. She could hear his breathing now, broken and raspy like he couldn't get a good breath. Malia didn't know what this meant, but it scared her. "Stiles?" she called as she twisted the door knob.

He did not answer her. She walked in to see Stiles tossing and turning in his bed. He smelled like fear and sweat; it reminded her of Echo House. Her instincts told her to run, but she fought the urge. She slowly knelt down next to the bed. "Stiles?" she said again louder this time placing her hand on his arm. He was tense; his fist was clenching the sheets. She shook him hard; sweat beaded on his forehead.

He started to kick his legs and cry out. "Stiles!" she screamed this time, shaking him. There was no waking him. She dug her claws into his arm. His eyes popped open. He sat up, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry, I had to. You weren't waking up. Are you okay?" she asked.

He didn't answer her at first. He looked around to get his bearings. This was his room. His house. His body.

_I am Stiles, _he tried to convince himself.

He did not feel the blood trickling down his arm. Malia was talking, but he didn't he hear her. He felt like he was underwater, being weighed down. Images of the people he had killed ran through his mind. All of the innocent people at the hospital... Allison...

Malia didn't know what to do. So she went with her instincts. She climbed on him, straddling him once again, but this time she had a very different purpose. With her weight on his thighs, he couldn't thrash his legs around. She cupped his face in both of her hands. He continued to hyperventilate, his eyes darting around the room, looking at everything but Malia. "Stiles, you have to calm down." Stiles whimpered, but looked at her nonetheless. "Focus. Focus on my heartbeat."

She guided his hand to her chest and held it there. Her heartbeat was fast but steady. "This is real," she assured him. "I'm real."

He stared at her hands over his. "You have ten fingers," he said in between breaths.

"Yes, I do," she answered. She didn't know why that mattered, but she was relieved that he was talking.

They sat there for what what felt to Malia like hours, but she would do anything for him. One by one, his muscles relaxed.

"Thanks," he whispered after awhile.

"Do you want me to leave?"

Stiles shook his head no. "Do you?"

"No." She rolled off of him and onto the other side of the bed. She cuddled up next to him, her head resting next to his back and her arm hugging his chest. He held her hand tightly, even after he thought she'd fallen asleep. He stared at the wall, unable to sleep again.

After awhile, she squeezed his hand. She mumbled, "Don't be afraid of falling asleep. I'm here and I will protect you," and kissed his shoulder.


	5. Chapter 5

From then on Malia and Stiles, we near inseparable. They kept each other close to their hearts like a secret. Malia was living at Stiles house full time as an unspoken agreement between Sherriff Stilinski and her father. Of course, the Sherriff was unaware Malia spent every night in Stiles' room. It was mostly innocent. They would make out and then cuddle until they fell asleep.

The only time they weren't together was when Malia went on her runs. She liked to run. She was much slower when she was a human. She got tired easily and her lungs ached after the first mile, but she kept pushing herself a bit harder every time. She'd once tried to get Stiles to run with her. He reminded her of a wounded rabbit trying to hop/run. It was difficult for her to watch. If he were in the wild, he would be killed.

Maybe not if she was with him. If they were both coyotes, she would protect him. A strange image came into her head of Stiles and her as coyotes, frolicking through the woods together. If they were animals, all of these complicated social norms she was learning wouldn't stand in their way. They would just have images and simple feelings controlling them. Human love was complicated. She'd learned this from all the movies she and Lydia watched while Lydia was teaching her how to be a girl. She longed for the simple feelings of being a coyote again.

But she knew Stiles belonged here in Beacon Hills as a human. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she would always belong to the wild. She felt it calling to her, a strange whisper in the wind that only she could hear.

_I am Malia. I am human. I belong here with Stiles. _

One day she was running along the road when she heard the animals calling to her. She didn't understand their sounds as a human, but she felt irrevocably tied to their voices. Without consciously realizing it, she followed the sounds to a small brick building.

The door dinged as she walked in. There was no one in the front lobby so she followed the sounds further into the building. She met a tall dark skinned man in a small room with a metal table in the middle. On the table was a cat. She bared her teeth instinctively.

"Sorry ma'am, I'm going to need you to go back up to the front. Only employees are allowed back here. I'll be there in a moment," he said.

"What are you doing to these animals?" she asked scared.

"I'm a veterinarian. I'm taking care of them," he stated.

"Hey Deaton we're out of-" Scott stopped when he saw Malia. He turned his attention to her. "Hey Malia. What are you doing here?"

"I don't know. I heard the animals."

Deaton raised an eyebrow. "You're Malia? I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you." He stuck his hand out to Malia. Malia just stared at his hand. Stiles trained her for this, but she couldn't remember. Was she supposed to shake his hand or…? "Oh," Deaton said, putting his hand down. He was aware of her struggle and didn't want to cause her embarrassment because she didn't know how to shake a hand.

"Scott, why don't you finish up with the stock? Just write down the things I need to buy on your clipboard."

"Sure." He gave a nod to Malia and disappeared again.

"Scott's told me a lot about you," Deaton explained. "How are you adjusting?"

"It's been… difficult," she said, leaning on the table and watching the cat. It smelled like fear. "Everybody's been helping though. Stiles especially." The corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up when she said his name.

"Stiles, yes. Eager to please, isn't he?"

"What are you doing to that cat?" she asked. "It's scared."

"I'm giving her the shots she needs. You can pet her if you want. It might help."

Slowly she brought her hand to the cat. She hovered over the cat, feeling its warmth radiate to her hand. She touched its ears tentatively and then rubbed its head. The cat started to make a growling sound. Well, it sounded happier than a growl.

"She's purring. That means she likes you." Malia smiled slightly, happy the cat enjoyed being petted.

"Why she smell like she's dying?"

"Sadly she is. She has an illness called feline leukemia. It's fatal, but the owners refused to put her down. All I can do is give her the medicine to make her last days a bit more comfortable."

Malia was overcome by a feeling of sadness. Her eyes got watery. She didn't know why. As a coyote, she ate stray cats and didn't feel bad about it. But for some reason she felt a unique bond with the cat. It was a feeling she couldn't explain. She felt a sense of responsibility to the animal.

"You can take away some of her pain if you want."

"How do I do that?" she asked, running her fingers through the cat's fur.

"Just focus. All you have to do it want it." Malia closed her eyes, focusing on the cat's slow heartbeat. She felt the cat's blood running through her veins and with that, the pain came. Her whole body started to ache. Her stomach felt like it was collapse in on itself. But she didn't care.

The cat became to lighten. Her scent was less overpowering. Malia let go of the cat, and her black veins disappeared as her coyote blood absorbed the last of the pain. A tear rolled down her cheek but she quickly wiped it away.

"It won't cure her, but it certainly helped."

"Why won't they put her down? Take her out of her misery?"

"Some people put their needs in front of their animals. They can't let them go, even when it's the best option. That's where the job of a vet comes in. To maintain the balance between the animal and the human world."

"Stiles," Malia asked that night when they were in bed. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I don't really know," he said honestly. "I've been so busy with this supernatural stuff that I haven't had time to think about real life." It was quiet for a second as they were both thinking. "I feel sort of responsible to protect both the humans and the supernatural. I've seen both sides, and… I don't know. I feel like someone needs to be there to…"

"Maintain balance," Malia finished for him.

"Exactly."

A/N

Hey guys! Thanks for reading my story, favoriting, and leaving reviews. You keep me going! Sorry for not updating. I've been so busy with college stuff. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It didn't have a lot of Stalia in it, but they can't always been together…. Malia has to learn to be her own human. See you soon!


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